Executive Council Meeting Notes September 23, 2014

Tuesday, September 23, 2014
9:00 a.m.
A110

President Turner began the meeting at 9:00 a.m. by welcoming the large group back as well as welcoming Dr. Cari Keller, Chair of the Strategic Planning Committee to the meeting.

Members present were: Dr. Steve Turner, Dr. Mark Arant, Mr. David Koehn, Mr. Ben Hardcastle, Dr. Laura Boren, Ms. Patti Buhl, Mr. Tony Duckworth, Ms. Peggy Glenn, Ms. Monica Barnett, Ms. Taylor Melone, Dr. Ron Cambiano, and Dr. Cheryl Van Den Handel.

Members absent were: None

Strategic Plan Update: Dr. Cari Keller reviewed information given at the recent Brown Bag/Snack Chat events. She reported her appreciation of the hard work being done by the committee in weekly meetings incorporating suggested changes as a result of the recent events. The group discussed goals for departmental strategic plans. Dr. Keller reported the committee's efforts of breaking into two sub-committees with one emphasizing planning and the other outlining potential guidelines. The Committee plans to have a final draft of recommendations ready for Cabinet review by mid October.

Title IX Update: Dr. Boren and Dr. Turner updated the group with information gained from a recent Title IX Conference and OSRHE Council of President's meeting. Dr. Boren reported a tremendous amount of information from history to regulations being discussed at the conference. She reported that NSU is in good shape in relation to policy but training/education will need to be developed. She emphasized that every employee and student must be educated on what Title IX is, how to report concerns, and where to go to obtain information. Dr. Turner reported similar conversations at a recent OSRHE meeting. The group discussed the need to develop a reporting mechanism in which to provide a yearly report on training and education efforts. NSU will need to develop target goals and report results next year. More information on this topic will be disseminated as plans develop.

Academic Affairs Mission Statement-Draft: Dr. Arant shared a rough draft of an Academic Affairs Mission Statement being developed. Based on the Boyer teacher/scholar model, the statement will tie to university development and parallel with the mission and vision of the university. Dr. Arant will provide a final draft in a future meeting. President Turner thanked Academic Affairs for their efforts.

Fall 2014 Commencement Times: Dr. Arant submitted the recommended schedule for the fall 2014 Commencement. The date has been set for Saturday, December 13, 2014. The first session will begin at 9:30 and will include graduates from the College of Business & Technology and College of Liberal Arts. The second and final session will begin at 1:30 and will include the College of Education and College of Science & Health Professions. Dr. Arant reported graduate numbers are currently at 417 undergraduate and 62 graduate for a total of 479. These numbers will change as the semester continues. The group continues discussions regarding a speaker. The name and background information will be announced at the appropriate time.

Athletics Update: Mr. Duckworth reported that feedback from game day (football) was good. Last year the e-ticket system was unveiled. Marketing efforts including how to cards and reminders in In-the-loop have made the system work well. He also reported that NSU was nominated for the NCAA diversity and inclusion award by RUSO and MIAA.

Doc Wadley Stadium Video Board: Mr. Duckworth reported the need to replace the current video board. This system is over 10 years old and will no longer be eligible for covered maintenance after this year. Athletics are working on replacement needs with a video board company. The current system is working but will soon become obsolete. A replacement must be considered in the near future.

MMA Event on Campus: Mr. Duckworth reported the possibility of holding a Mixed Martial Arts fund raising event on campus in the future. The group discussed the risks and logistics involved of holding this type of event. Mr. Duckworth will obtain more detailed information and will bring back for discussion at a future meeting.

Regional Activities Update: Dr. Cambiano updated the group on ongoing activities within our region. He reported multiple meetings across the institution. One of two items discussed was the 2014 Teachers of Successful Students Institute presented by Cherokee Nation Education Services held on the NSU Tahlequah campus in early June. The institute, designed for teachers, encompassed a variety of workshops ranging from Math, Science, Technology, Reading, Spelling and Writing with a multitude of presenters for each area. Grade levels included were pre-k through high school. Dr. Cambiano reported plans are underway for the 2015 event to be held in June and will again be held on the NSU campus. The second event discussed was the upcoming Northeastern Oklahoma Regional Alliance's (NORA) 6th Annual Regional Summit being held on Tuesday, October 7, 2014 on the NSU Tahlequah campus. This event addresses regionalism and will focus on The Power of Us: Connectivity and Creativity. It is a one day event encompassing multiple tracks including Growing Local , Healthy Communities , Transforming Economies , and Building a Better Workforce .

J.F. Smith Group Campaign Feasibility Study: Peggy Glenn updated the group on efforts of the feasibility study. J.F. Smith group has completed a summary of the online survey, completed focus group meetings on each campus, as well as conducted one-on-one meetings, phone interviews with a top 250 list of individuals. All information will be compiled and a comprehensive campaign will be developed.

Homecoming Update: Peggy Glenn updated the group on activities being planned for the 2014 Homecoming. Mailings to include a detailed event schedule will begin going out this week. Homecoming week begins Sunday, October 19th with an Alumni event and Paint the Town Green ending on Saturday, October 25th including a parade, tailgating, football game, and the Emerald Ball.

Staff Council Update: Monica Barnett updated the group on activities of the Staff Council. She reported the group is working hard to be active on all campuses. They will be participating in the Health Fair and Tailgating on home games. The group has redesigned their website and is working with IT for an appropriate landing site. She reminded the group of the new program, titled Shout Out , designed for giving praise to those who go beyond their normal duties to assist students as well as colleagues.

Faculty Council Update: Dr. Van Den Handel reported that Faculty Council has been busy. This group is currently working on Faculty Handbook updates to fall in line with the Strategic Plan. They are also working with the Grounds Department on the Circle of Excellence brick replacement site. When asked if Faculty Council was involved with tailgating events, Dr. Van Den Handel stated that she would report back any efforts/plans. Dr. Boren gave Dr. Van Den Handel some history regarding faculty being involved with the Homecoming Parade and indicated a desire to have them involved this year. Dr. Van Den Handel and Dr. Boren will get together on needs.

NSGA Update: Taylor Melone updated the group on activities of NSGA. There were 100+ participants involved in the 911 Day of Service activities. Other events being planned are the Small Event and Big Event. Taylor proposed the possibility of faculty being willing to give service points to students that participate in these service events. She informed the group of a new event opportunity titled Project Green Challenge in which several hundred colleges and high schools will be participating. Diversity Week will be held in November. She also reported that Senate leaders are currently being trained. NSGA is also working on rebranding their current seal.

Collegial Governance Policy Proposal: President Turner began discussions regarding the draft policy proposal. Each member of the group had been provided a review copy the week prior to the meeting. The group discussed suggested updates and/or needed changes. Dr. Van Den Handel and Ms. Buhl will make updates to the draft and resubmit for Cabinet approval at the next Cabinet meeting. Dr. Van Den Handel thanked everyone involved to get this completed. President Turner stated the main goal of this policy is balance for all with no group over the other.

Top Majors/Where are the Demands for Professional Jobs: President Turner provided a handout to the group that discussed top 10 best hot jobs and careers for 2012-2022, employment projections including the fastest growing occupations, and top 10 majors for the class of 2022. Top programs on the list were Math, Robotics, Agriculture, Hospitality Management, Health/Biotechnology, Pre-Law focusing on Elder Law, Liberal Arts, and Aerospace Engineering. He emphasized the importance of utilizing this information as a guide for focusing efforts and that it also relates to our D23 plan. President Turner stated that offering quality programs that are in demand will help us be successful.

11-Year Enrollment Trends: President Turner provided a handout to the group that gave an 11-year overview of credit hour production figures as well as FTE enrollment. These numbers were based on fall census numbers ranging from 2001 to 2014.

Announcements

President Turner updated the group on the status of the Search Committee's work of the HR Director position.

President Turner informed and/or reminded the group of upcoming meetings to include:

• OSRHE Regent's Education Program September 25th
• Regional Summit at NSU October 7th
• Governor Fallin's 2nd Annual STEM Summit October 7th
• OSRHE Gun's on Campus October 8th
• OSRHE Campus Safety & Security Summit October 29th

President Turner reminded the group that each member of the Executive Council is a conduit of accurate information back to the areas for which they lead.

The meeting was adjourned at 11:30 a.m.

Respectfully submitted,
Robin Hutchins